Discussion:
Installing OpenBSD/macppc from USB CD-ROM
Daniel B.
2011-01-09 18:35:49 UTC
Permalink
Hi ppc@,

I recently upgraded (actually reinstalled) OpenBSD in my iMac G3 from
4.1 to 4.8. It's running fine, except for some x11/mozilla-firefox
issues.

Before installing, just realized the original CD-ROM broke. I installed
by downloading bsd.rd to / to grab installation files from FTP.

But I want to install OpenBSD on other machines whose CD-ROM may not be
working too. Can't install by enet (no servers). Is it possible to
install from a USD CD-ROM on an iMac G3? I'm considering to buy one.

Thank you.
Jasper Valentijn
2011-01-10 10:32:54 UTC
Permalink
Post by Daniel B.
But I want to install OpenBSD on other machines whose CD-ROM may not be
working too. Can't install by enet (no servers). Is it possible to
install from a USD CD-ROM on an iMac G3? I'm considering to buy one.
Not sure. I do have some G3s and a USB enclosure, curently with a DVD
reader in it, though.

If I'm able to allocate some time this weekend I'll test and report back
here.


--
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching
them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and
shut up.
Super Biscuit
2011-01-10 17:09:45 UTC
Permalink
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/rev-d-imac-g3-333-mhz.html

Read a few paragraphs down. If the internal drive in question does not work,
then find a compatible replacement. You're also looking at the fact that the
rom is OldWorld and may need a few tweaks and twerps to get it going.



--- On Mon, 1/10/11, Jasper Valentijn <***@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Jasper Valentijn <***@gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Installing OpenBSD/macppc from USB CD-ROM
To: ***@openbsd.org
Date: Monday, January 10, 2011, 10:32 AM
Post by Daniel B.
But I want to install OpenBSD on other machines whose CD-ROM may not be
working too. Can't install by enet (no servers). Is it possible to
install from a USD CD-ROM on an iMac G3? I'm considering to buy one.
Not sure. I do have some G3s and a USB enclosure, curently with a DVD
reader in it, though.

If I'm able to allocate some time this weekend I'll test and report back
here.


--
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching
them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and
shut up.
Jasper Valentijn
2011-01-10 18:42:32 UTC
Permalink
Post by Super Biscuit
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/rev-d-imac-g3-333-mhz.html
Read a few paragraphs down. If the internal drive in question does not
work, then find a compatible replacement. You're also looking at the fact that
the rom is OldWorld and may need a few tweaks and twerps to get it going.
Not sure if this is what you mean: "Tray-loading iMacs cannot boot
from USB drives (see Apple Knowledge Base Article #58430, USB Info and
Benefits of Dual-Channel USB)."
If not please quote the relevant part please.
Post by Super Biscuit
From Apple Knowledge Base Article #58430: "Bootable USB drives: A
storage device such as a SuperDisk, Zip disk, or other USB storage
drive can be used to hold a valid system folder and used at startup."

Basically my question to you is: "Did you try it?"

--
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching
them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and
shut up.
Joel Rees
2011-01-17 12:02:34 UTC
Permalink
Replying from memory:

On Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:42:32 +0100
Post by Jasper Valentijn
Post by Super Biscuit
http://lowendmac.com/imacs/rev-d-imac-g3-333-mhz.html
Read a few paragraphs down. If the internal drive in question does not
work, then find a compatible replacement. You're also looking at the fact that
the rom is OldWorld and may need a few tweaks and twerps to get it going.
I think Super Biscuit is using "OldWorld" in a different sense here.

They were left officially left out in the cold on the generation step
from Mac OS X 10.3 to 10.4, which sort of makes them an older world, but
not "oldworld" when we are talking about how to boot a non-Mac OS.

iMac and iBook were NewWorld with respect to the ROM being actually not ROM.

Early iMacs do have some odd issues, though.
Post by Jasper Valentijn
Not sure if this is what you mean: "Tray-loading iMacs cannot boot
from USB drives (see Apple Knowledge Base Article #58430, USB Info and
Benefits of Dual-Channel USB)."
If not please quote the relevant part please.
From Apple Knowledge Base Article #58430: "Bootable USB drives: A
storage device such as a SuperDisk, Zip disk, or other USB storage
drive can be used to hold a valid system folder and used at startup."
A common bit of old "knowledge" that may be lost in the shuffle,
basically, iBooks that didn't have a Firewire port could not boot
Mac OS X from any external drive. HD or CD/DVD was it. (Unless you
did hardware hacks like hanging a PATA to SATA converter off the
internal PATA ports, which isn't really getting around the problem.)

However, that was assuming you were booting Mac OS X and choosing the
system to boot via the Mac OS X drive selector. Booting from open
firmware was generally considered a separate subject. I have a vague
memory that some of the G3s had firmware that was complete enough to
see and boot from the USB port even though they couldn't bless the
system folder via the Mac OS X boot selector.

My memory is also that some of the later G3s with firewire ports were
even able to boot Mac OS X from the USB port the usual way.
Post by Jasper Valentijn
Basically my question to you is: "Did you try it?"
I have booted Mac OS X on G4 iBooks and Minis from the USB port, and
I'm pretty sure it's part of the spec on all G4s, so it should just
be a matter of getting the name of the USB port right.

Booting openbsd from USB on G3s, I'll defer to others on.
--
Joel Rees <***@sannet.ne.jp>
Jasper Valentijn
2011-01-16 11:07:38 UTC
Permalink
Post by Jasper Valentijn
Post by Daniel B.
But I want to install OpenBSD on other machines whose CD-ROM may not be
working too. Can't install by enet (no servers). Is it possible to
install from a USD CD-ROM on an iMac G3? I'm considering to buy one.
Not sure. I do have some G3s and a USB enclosure, curently with a DVD
reader in it, though.
If I'm able to allocate some time this weekend I'll test and report back
here.
I've been able to install from an USB based DVD enclosure. The OF
command dale@ mentioned just needed a little pci reference in front.

--
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching
them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and
shut up.
Super Bisquit
2011-01-16 17:03:04 UTC
Permalink
Put it up for the rest of us to see. I may want to run it from my iMac G4
soon.

On Sun, Jan 16, 2011 at 6:07 AM, Jasper Valentijn <
Post by Jasper Valentijn
Post by Jasper Valentijn
Post by Daniel B.
But I want to install OpenBSD on other machines whose CD-ROM may not be
working too. Can't install by enet (no servers). Is it possible to
install from a USD CD-ROM on an iMac G3? I'm considering to buy one.
Not sure. I do have some G3s and a USB enclosure, curently with a DVD
reader in it, though.
If I'm able to allocate some time this weekend I'll test and report back
here.
I've been able to install from an USB based DVD enclosure. The OF
--
We spend the first twelve months of our children's lives teaching
them to walk and talk and the next twelve telling them to sit down and
shut up.
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